Pratik Pal Appointed as tata digital CEO

Tata Sons has appointed Tata Consultancy Services executive, Pratik Pal, as the Chief Executive Officer of Tata Digital. Pal will head the new entity which has been formed to incubate new digital businesses, a statement said. Pal has been with TCS for over 27 years and has held several key leadership positions across multiple business units and industry verticals. In his most recent role, Pratik was the global head of retail, travel, transportation, hospitality and consumer packaged goods industry unit, and responsible for the growth of TCS’ second largest industry segment. “Pratik brings strong domain knowledge of consumer-centric businesses to this role with a deep understanding of how new digital tech are disrupting these industries. He will play a key role in building new platforms of growth,” Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said. Pal is a graduate of Electronics and Communication from Jadavpur University and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

Shiprocket appoints Indranil Nathas head of its supply chain management

Shiprocket, a logistics aggregation platform for online sellers, has on-boarded industry veteran Indranil Nath as Senior VP, Supply Chain and Operations. Indranil has previously held key positions within a number of industry-leading startups including Club Factory, Flipkart and Ola Cabs.

With more than 14 years of industry experience, Indranil holds considerable expertise in supply chain management and logistics. He has developed ecosystems and processes from scratch for Flipkart, Ola Cabs, and HomeShop18 alongside others and has also been previously associated with Larsen & Toubro as well as PepsiCo. Before joining Shiprocket, Indranil headed Logistics and Supply Chain at Club Factory.

PepsiCo HR head Suchitra Rajendra quits

Pepsico’s Suchitra Rajendra has resigned from the role of VP Human Resources India region, according to a media report. With this resignation, her 13- year stint in the beverage and snacks maker shall come to an end. Rajendra joined PepsiCo in 2006 as Org Capability, BU HR and Employee Communications and in 2009 was appointed as Director Talent Sustainability, PepsiCo India. In less than four years, she was promoted to the position of Senior Director Human Resources, PepsiCo APAC. In 2015, her scope of responsibilities widened as she was named VP Human Resources India region.

A post-graduate from XLRI Jamshedpur, Rajendra has experience in strategic HR, organisation design, C&B, capability building, M&A, job evaluations, policy formulation, HR operations, talent acquisition, culture change and internal communications. She has worked in different industry sectors including telecom, service consulting and FMCG across various geographies, including India, APAC and Australia. Rajendra has also been in a consulting role in Cerebrus Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Prior to that, she set up the HR function for WorkVentures, Sydney Australia as Senior Human Resources Manager.

RailYatri appoints Vivek Madhukar as Chief Business Officer

RailYatri, a multi-modal intercity transportation network, has announced the appointment of Vivek Madhukar as its Chief Business Officer for their new fleet of intercity bus service called ‘IntrCity SmartBus’. In his new role, Madhukar will be responsible for accelerating the growth and spearheading the business operations for RailYatri’s intercity bus vertical.

Madhukar comes with over 22 years of experience in developing and building startup businesses in the digital economy. He specialises in scaling revenue in new market segments and building high performing sales organisations. Before his appointment at RailYatri, Madhukar founded ProsperX.com, a marketplace for financial products prior to which he served as the Chief Operating Officer for the classified division (TBS) of The Times Group.

Commenting on the appointment, Manish Rathi, CEO and Co-Founder, RailYatri.in stated, “We are excited to have Vivek on board with us and hope to leverage his deep operational and execution expertise and his valuable business insights.”

Paytm promotes CFO Madhur Deora as President

Digital payments platform, Paytm, announced that Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Madhur Deora will assume the new role of President to keep up with the growth of the company. The One97 Communications-owned payments major is eyeing further growth in financial services and consumer internet. Deora, who will now take charge of multiple business lines, will primarily look after those related to consumer services. Commenting on the appointment, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO, Paytm, said, “We have grown over 20x in the last three years by creating a payments-led lifestyle and financial services app in our country. The next phase of our journey is to expand our offerings in consumer internet and financial services. As we expand our business, we are promoting Madhur to the role of President. Madhur has been a key partner in this success.”

Deora said, “It has been an unbelievable journey at Paytm and I am excited about our next phase of growth in consumer internet and financial services. I look forward to working with Vijay and the management team to help build our organisation for the future.” Deora has over two decades of professional experience. Prior to joining Paytm in October 2016, he served as Managing Director in Citigroup’s investment banking business in a career that spanned New York, London and Mumbai.

Digitas India appoints Sonia Khurana as COO

Digitas India, Publicis Groupeowned digital agency, announced the appointment of Sonia Khurana as Chief Operating Officer. She joins the agency from Ogilvy India where she was Senior Vice President and head of customer engagement. She will report to Amaresh Godbole, CEO, Digitas India. Commenting on her appointment, Godbole said, “Digitas India has been on the fast track for the last decade and today we’re 450 plus experts partnering top-notch clients. To keep up with this growth trajectory, we need more leaders who are adept at solving business problems through modern marketing practices. Sonia is just that, a true T-shaped personality who has run digital businesses as well as capabilities. Further, she understands how to tackle the challenges of integration. It’s what we need to drive our next phase of growth as the premier connected marketing agency and as a partner in Publicis Groupe’s Power of One Solutions.”

A marketing old hand with an experience of over two decades in key roles across prominent agencies in the advertising industry, Khurana has been instrumental in shaping up business and strategy for the agencies and has handled clients across retail, hospitality, telecom, technology, automotive, travel and tourism, and more. Some of the clients include Aditya Birla Group, Vodafone, IBM, BMW, Microsoft, Nokia, and Diageo.

Ritesh Agarwal to take up a larger role in OYO’s Singapore office

The founder of the Indian hospitality unicorn, OYO Hotels and Homes, Ritesh Agarwal, has decided to reportedly take up a larger role in the company’s Singapore office as the company plans to establish itself as a global player. This move is said to be a part of the ongoing structural changes in OYO for the past 12 months as the company continues expanding its global operations.

Also, recently OYO hosted its first Partner Advisory Council meeting in Delhi under the aegis of OYO Partner Engagement Network (OPEN) – the ongoing year-long commitment of support and engagement with 10,000+ asset owners across the country. The inaugural Partner Advisory Council, under OPEN provides a unique opportunity to OYO hotel owners, OYO India SA leadership and respected third party policy and legal luminaries to represent the interests of the OYO Hotels network across the country and provide a platform to discuss and determine micro and macro issues driving the future of hospitality in India.

Nripendra Mishra resigns, PK Sinha appointed as OSD in PMO

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Principal Secretary, Nripendra Misra, expressed his intention to be relieved of his duties. Misra has been with Modi in the PMO since 2014. Former Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha has been appointed as officer on special duty by the Prime Minister, officials said. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote: “After serving the PMO assiduously and diligently for over five years and making an indelible contribution to India’s growth trajectory, Shri Nripendra Misra Ji will be embarking on a new phase of his life. My best wishes to him for his future endeavors. Shri Nripendra Misra is among the most outstanding officers, who has a great grasp of public policy and administration. When I was new to Delhi in 2014, he taught me a lot and his guidance remains extremely valuable,” he added.

Kartik Aaryan roped in as brand ambassador of leading chocolate brand

Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk, India’s premium chocolate brand roped in millennial heartthrob, Kartik Aaryan, as the new entrant into the Silk family. Aaryan, who has been storming the box office with a series of romantic comedy blockbusters, fits in perfectly with the brand’s romantic appeal. His consistency matches the brand love that Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk enjoys and both will be a win-win together. Commenting on the association, Anil Viswanathan, Director-Marketing (chocolates), Mondelez India, said, “Ever since we launched, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk has grown to be one of our most successful chocolate innovations in the country and has played a lead in the premium segment, offering the consumers a unique and indulgent experience. We believe that our association with Kartik Aaryan will further help in strengthening our connection with the youth, taking Silk’s appeal to the next level.”

Kartik Aaryan, on becoming a part of the Silk family said, “I love playing romantic fun-filled characters and I’m looking forward to partaking in yet another refreshing and romantic journey with the iconic Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk. I am extremely excited about this association.”

Dockabl Appoints Sekhar Variam as its CTO

Dockabl has appointed Sekhar Variam as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The strategic appointment is aimed at strengthening the brand’s technological capabilities, augmenting existing products and establishing new product lines. Sekhar will operate out of Dockabl’s Bengaluru office.

Dockabl plans to build on its recent Bengaluru expansion by commencing operations in other high-profile tech centres such as Hyderabad and Chennai. Sekhar’s appointment underlines the company’s plans to strengthen its pan-India presence.

Sekhar is an industry veteran with 18 years of rich experience in building B2B and B2C products including innovative SAAS-based offerings. He is an NIT alumnus who is pursuing an MS (Computer Science) from Georgia Tech.

Barun Das joins TV9 as CEO

Media veteran, Barun Das, has joined TV9 as Chief Executive Officer. Mahendra Mishra, who was acting as the interim CEO of the group, will now be Principal Advisor to the Board of TV9. Das, a veteran of the media business, will be charged with the responsibility of driving synergies among all the channels and to build future-ready new businesses of the Group. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata and the London School of Economics. His last corporate assignment was as the CEO of Zee Media limited where he worked for over five years.

Das, Co-founder & Director of Mydia 100 Communications, has over 25 years’ of experience. Before Zee News, he worked in leadership positions in ABP News, India Today Group, Astro All Asia Network in Kuala Lumpur, ABP Group among others.

Commenting on Das’s new role, Singa Rao, Whole Time Director and member of TV9 Board, said: “Our group is committed to the roles and responsibilities of the Fourth Estate. Given our leadership position in the southern and western parts of the country, we are now aiming at achieving similar success in the rest of the country and in the new media domain. We are confident that Barun, with his all-round and vast experience and track record, will power this foray. We welcome Barun on board.”

Das said he was looking forward to the honor and challenges of the assignment. “I am excited about this new opportunity given the Group’s vision. Every new opportunity comes with fresh challenges and I wish to contribute my bit along with the team. Since TV9 has impressive leadership in the regions of its current operations, it will be my pleasure and privilege, to drive its expansion in the national arena.”

TAFE appoints Sandeep Sinha as CEO

Tractor maker TAFE has announced the appointment of Sandeep Sinha as its CEO. Sinha was earlier the Managing Director of Cummins India. He has held several roles in the supply chain as well as corporate strategy functions including a tenure with Cummins Inc in the US, said a statement. He will report to TAFE Chairman Mallika Srinivasan. “Sandeep Sinha’s rich and relevant experience, in addition to the alignment of values, will bring strong and insightful leadership to our team’s journey,” said Srinivasan. The company has also elevated S Chandramohan as Group President (Finance & Investment Strategy) and TR Kesavan as Group President (Corporate Relations & Alliances). They will also report to Srinivasan. TAFE is the second largest tractor maker in India by volumes with annual sales of over 150,000 units.